Existence is awareness which is the negation of ignorance. Sri Bhagwan told Sri S.S. Cohen ( Guru Ramana, P-54,55 ) that Concentration, Meditation and all other spiritual practices are not performed with the object of realizing the Self, because the Self is ever present, but of realizing the non-existence of ignorance.

I am the Existence, Consciousness, and Bliss. Yet, I am not happy. Because I imagine myself other than what I am in reality. I imagine myself I am this body, I am this or that. I am Anil, father of Amit and Rachana, son of so and so on endlessly. I do not see all these in deep sleep but I exist as 'I am'.

Sri Bhagwan asks us to hold on to that existence, that awareness-'I am' alone. Sri Bhagwan says that stripped of qualities and superimposition of names and forms I am simply, " I-Am-That-I Am ". But Stillness alone can usher us in the experience of the Reality that is 'Existence' I am. Sri Bhagwan says that stillness is cessation of thinking,which is the universe of names and forms, time and space, all cocepts and percepts whatever.

Sri Bhagwan Says, 'I am' is God. (Talks, no-354) Realize " I am " and do not think I am.

Yes. The Self is beyond thoughts and words. One cannot thinkabout Brahman, the unthinkable, and attain It. All prayersand worships are only thoughts. It can only help a person to havechittasuddhi and this should go hand in hand with self inquiry.

The philosopher Descartes famously concluded in his "I think, therefore I am" statement that thought was a proof of Being. Thought is only the proof of the individual, mind and ego. BhagavanRamana ridiculed this assertion in the following statementthat was recorded by Sri Lakshmana Sarma in his Sri RamanaParavidyopanishad, verse 166:

The existence of their own Self is inferred by some from mental functioning, by reasoning 'I think therefore I am'. These men arelike those dull witted ones who ignore the elephant when it goespast and become convinced afterwards by looking at the footprints.

Self-enquiry has twin divine weapons in its armoury. Who Am I ? Whence Am I ?

Sri Bhagwan has said that 'Who am I ?' is Vichara ( Koham?), and 'Whence am I ?' is Dhyana (Kutoham?). Dear devotees, ther is no doubt that the hidden and secret desires, such as desires for name and fame wealth, honour, company of the opposite sex etc., are hindrances and undoing for the seekers.

Sri Bhagwan said that Self-realization is realization of the non-existence of the ignorance. How this ignorance created existence and its attachments will become palpable under the searchlight of the Self-enquiry?

A simple suggestion :

When one enquires profoundly, as if this is a life and death question, which in reality it is, one tries to hold on to his own substratum i.e. the Self which is Absolute, Full, and Immovable Unchanging Reality, one begins to be gradually aware, at last , of the ephemeral and fleeting nature of the phenomena on the Immovable-Unchanging Screen of his own being. Immovability of the screen helps recognize the ever changing world-realities including his own little self.

Absolute faith in Sri Bhagwan and the diligent practice of the Self-enquiry as taught by Him is bound to intensify 'I am' ness, opening the door to one's own wonderful 'Natural State'.

When the mind melts with love of Him, Subtle Eye of Consciousness opens, And He reveals Himself as Pure Knowledge.

Sri Bhagwan

Self-enquiry as taught by Sri Bhagwan is holistic and, therefore, it is greater than the sum of its components. As an earnest devotee treads the Path, Sri Bhagwan and His Grace are ever watching, bringing about necessary correction,if required, besides highlighting the Path itself. There is no doubt about that. After all why did the great devotee and the Poet of poets, Sri Muruganar sang that Self-enquiry reveals its own clarity ? Indeed, those who say that He is no more in the body, are sceptics, if I may say so.

Dear devotee, what is jnana ? Sri Bhagwan revealed that subjective knowledge or the knowledge knowing itself is jnana. Knowing any thing or knowledge of any thing is predicated upon the existence of consciousness or awareness. Every experience is possible only because of the 'Presence'. As Sri Bhagwan illustrated so revealingly in His plenary 'Death Experience', ' like the shruti note in a musical performance'.

Let us suppose that I am searching a pen in the pitch darkness. I can not find it when it is dark, although the subject and the object both are present in it. Light must be there to unite me to the pen. Similarly, Sri Bhagwan clarified that the link between the subject and the object in every experience is Pure Knowledge. Knowledge is the Light which connects the seer to the seen.

Consciousness is the substratum and the witness, It is Itself the subjects and the objects as well as the Light by which they are perceived, known or experienced. In Truth, there is nothing but awareness.

Ether is a physical concept and physical ether is insentient. But our impure mind is such that it can understand concepts only, although it partakes consciousness. Since ether in physics is all-pervading, at least within the periphery of the expanding universe or may be up to its four-dimensional end as Sri Einstein postulated. It does not matter for now. However, it has been a very apt and a helpful entity to have intellectual grasp of the all-pervading Reality.

Mind is a mixture of Intelligence and thoughts or of Chit and sankalpas. Therefore, it is responsible for forming mirror, light, darkness and reflections. Chit-ether or Chidakasa is Pure Knowledge or Pure Intelligence and It is the source of the mind. Sri Bhagwan says that mind is Pure Light or Pure Consciousness at the moment of rising. Only afterwards, the central I-thought or the thought ' I am Anil ' rises which at once becomes the basis for the rise of the jivas and the world. Sri Bhagwan says that the first Light rising as the wave of Consciousness from the Self is the Pure Mind or the Mind-ether or our God-Head or Ishwara. And like the physical ether which contains objects, Mind-ether contains thoughts which are the jivas and the world. Sri Bhagwan says that the physical ether which contains all the gross objects and the whole universe itself, is the content of the Mind-ether which is itself the contents of the Chit-Ether or the Pure Knowledge. Chit-Ether is Itself Self or the Pure Awareness which does not contain any thing in it. Why ? Because Sri Bhagwan says that knowing objects is relative knowledge but knowledge, in its purity, is One transcendental all-pervading Light.

The mind-body consciousness does not leave us easily. That is whywe even try to see God with body. Today is Skanda Sashti - we think of Muruga with six faces and twelve hands. Ganesa is with elephant face. Siva with five faces. This body will appear and disappear. This is only meditation in form. This should give way to formless meditation. The sight or vision implies the seer. The seer cannot deny the existence of the Self. There is no moment when the Self as Consciousness does not exist. It is eternal, no appearing and disappearing. Therefore inquire Who am I?. Sink deep within and abide as the Self. That is Siva, as BE-ing.

Everything is brahman... This statement is only for those who realized and lives in the same sahaja samadhi. Not for all.

Anyway this point is very interesting to explain and to understand...

In the "snake and rope" example both are also brahman. We never afraid of rope whereas everybody afraid of live snake.In the same way an apple is also brahman is eaten by another brahman. Is not it. I think all the doubts will be cleared whenwe become brahmahood.

There is an ocean of difference between the state of a Jivan muktaand ours who are not yet realized.

The B.U. says: When all the desires that dwell in his heart are gone, then he, having been a mortal, verily becomes immortal. And realizes Brahman in this very body. Such a Jivan Mukta is calledin various names, gunatita, sthitaprajna at al.

Vasishta tells Rama: He is said to be liberated-while-living to whomthis world of senses ceases to exist although he is transacting with it in the usual way and TO WHOM ONLY THE ALL PERVADING CONSCIOUSNESS EXISTS.

I trust, in such a state, he will see, including the body of himselfand bodies of all living beings, as Consciousness. He, who although transacting with all sorts of sense objects, remains cool as if theyare all concerned with someone else, and he who is self-integratedinto a whole.

The state of the Jnani...is neither sleep nor the waking statebut intermediate between the two. There is the awarenessof the waking state and the stillness of the sleep. It is calledJagrat-sushupti. Call it wakeful sleep or sleepless waking or wakeless sleep. It is not the same as sleep or waking separately. It is atijagrat or atisushupti.....

Laghu Yogavasishta says:

When the attention of Jivanmukta is drawn towards worldly activities, by the people near, they perform their duties set by the tradition just like somnambulists and themselves remainunaffected.

Mundaka Upanishad says:

Obj: The accomplished one [i.e. Jivanmukta] does not see, and he performs the conventional duties -- these two are mutually contradicting statements. It that not so?

Reply : No. This can be solved according to the degrees of tranquillity. Having this in view, the Sruti says: 'One who sportswith, delight in and works through the Self is the foremost among the knowers of Brahman.

Bhagavan Ramana says in Sri Arunachala Pancharatnam Verse 5:

He who, with Heart to you surrendered,Beholds for ever You alone,Sees all things as forms of YouAnd loves and serves them as none otherThan the Self. O Aruna Hill,Triumphs because he is immersedin You whose being is pure bliss.

[tr. Prof. K. Swaminathan]

Narayana Upanishad:

Not only the activities prescribed by the scriptures, but also allthe worldly activities of the Yogi are of the nature of religious austerities only.

A Jivan mukta sees the world through eye of Jnana. He transactswith the world as the Self.

GVK Verse 54 says:

The Jnani's vision matures into being consciousness bliss, theeye of Truth, because the mischievous movements of the ego-mind have ceased completely. Since the nature of the seen is not different from the nature of the eye that sees, to the true Jnanithe world too is definitely being consciousness bliss.

Vasishta further narrates the characteristics of a Jivan Mukta:

He whose face neither beams in happiness nor becomes drownedin sorrow, and he whose body is maintained from whatever comes of its own accord, is said to be a Jivan Mukta.

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He who is wide awake although in deep sleep, who has nodistinguished waking state, and whose knowledge is free fromdesires, is called a Jivan Mukta.

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He who is absolutely pure at heart, like the clear akasa, although responsive to the spurs of love, hate, fear and the like, is calleda Jivan Mukta.

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He whose intellect is not tainted and whose inner self is notaffected by the feeling of "I am the doer" caused by egoismwhile being engaged or not in the rites and other activities, iscalled a Jivan Mukta.

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He neither perturbs the world, nor gets perturbed by the world,and he who is free from joy, anger, gusto and fear as well, is said to be a Jivan Mukta.

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He who is free from all worldly thoughts, although skilled in arts, is without any and who is, as it were, without a mind although having one, is called a Jivan Mukta.

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He who although, transacting with all sorts of sense objects, remains cool as if they are all concerned with someone else,and he is who self-integrated into a whole, is said to be a Jivan Mukta.

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When the body expires in time - just as the wind becomes motionless - he gives up his body state, and thus a JivanMukta enters the state of Nirvanam.

There is an ocean of difference between the state of a Jivan muktaand ours who are not yet realized.

I agree with this statement.A Jivan Mukta is like a rocket which has exceeded escape velocity and went out of the earth's gravitation field. They are in space and exhaust their karma on earth from there. We operate on earth within the earth's gravitation field. An incarnation is higher. From the space they come down to earth for well-being of humanity at large.

This is not merely a statement from the Jnana literature. Tantric scriptures also identify three granthis: the Brahma Granthi, the Vishnu Granthi and the Rudra Granthi. These granthis are like knots which holds one in bondage. A person (according to that system) becomes free only after those knots melt away.

MASTER;- God cannot be seen with these physical eyes. In thecourse of spiritual discipline, one gets a "love body", endowed with"love eyes" {Jnana KaN says Bhagavan Ramana}, "love ears", and so on. One sees God with those "love eyes." One hears the voiceof God with those "love ears". But this is not possible without intense love of God [Bhagavan Ramana calls it as self surrender].One sees God alone everywhere when one loves Him with greatintensity. It is like a person with jaundice, who sees everything yellow. Then one feels "I am verily He". One who thinks of God day and night beholds Him everywhere. It is like a man's seeing huge flames on all sides, after he has gazed fixedly at one huge flame for sometime.

While Bhagavan Ramana mentioned only about Chit-Jada granthi,Sri Lalita Sahasranamam describes three granthis, Bramha Granthi,Vishnu Granthi and Rudra Granthi. These are three knots that oneencounters in Mooladharam, Manipurakam and Ajana while practising Kundalini Yoga. After breaking these three knots one attains Sahasraram where Mother showers nectar. [Sri Lalita Sloka 39]Attaining Sahasraram, one merges with Siva-Sakti and and prana escapes through the crown to merge with the pure space.

Bhagavan Ramana though He did not disapprove Yoga marga, hadmentioned the strain involved in that. He says in Jnana Marga, the mind simply merges in the Heart without return.